Cirrus@Austlit

'Ruby and her new husband James brave a long and treacherous journey to start their new life in Australia. Meanwhile, there are other new arrivals to Australian shores: a Tahitian with a mysterious past, a naive young schoolmistress, and an English aristocrat, all unaware that their destinies are irrevocably intertwined.' (Publication summary)

'Weekly, nicknamed The Newspaper, cleans the houses on Claremont Street, spreading the neighbourhood gossip as she works. No one knows or cares where Weekly goes in her spare time, or what she dreams of at night – no one, that is, until Nastasya discovers her secret.' (Publication summary)

'Richard Ashley is a journalist who cares about the truth, and he's about to break the greatest story of his career.

'Italy's ruling clique is rotten to the core. A scandal centred around Vittorio, Duke of Orgagna, points to a web of corruption and deceit emanating from his estate in the south.

'But Ashley finds that the truth is not all it seems when he falls in love with Orgagna's wife. Everything is more complicated, more passionate, than before—and tainted by death. Suddenly Ashley's greatest story threatens to be his last.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017).

'John Howard is determined to brighten up his old age by taking a fishing trip to France. However, during his stay the Nazis invade and he is forced to try to escape back to England with the two small children of some friends who are forced to stay behind in order to help the Allied war effort. As the conflict grows closer the roads become impassable and Howard also comes across five more children who need his help. He ends up leading this motley group of youngsters through the French countryside, constantly beset by danger yet heroically protecting his charges.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2009 Vintage ed.).